


helping others is the way we help ourselves

by rxbron



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Friends!Robron, M/M, basically robert helping aaron and aaron helping robert :), domestic fluff if you squint lmaoo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-02-23 14:09:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13191702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rxbron/pseuds/rxbron
Summary: a snapshot of what life could have been like for aaron and robert





	helping others is the way we help ourselves

**Author's Note:**

> back with another fic! hope you all enjoyed the one i posted yesterday :) bit risky posting this one with the current controversial talks of aaron co-parenting seb buuuuut fingers crossed you guys like this! all grammar mistakes are mine and feedback would be greatly appreciated :)

“Why don’t you just ask Cain or Zak?” Liv muttered as she threw herself down beside her brother on the couch and sprawled her legs across the coffee table which held important paperwork from the scrapyard.

“Surely they can. It’s only scrap, Aaron.”

Aaron heard his boyfriend Alex speak from across the room where he sat at the kitchen table with his laptop and his notebook preparing his research project.

Aaron sighed in frustration at hearing their suggestions and threw his pen at the paper that laid in front of him.

“It’s not just scrap, it’s my livelihood. It’s how I pay my bills and put dinner on the table for you.”

Liv grumbled when Aaron poked her leg after he spoke.

He had been having a tough time with the scrapyard after Adam’s arrest. He spent a few weeks off during the Christmas period and ignored every business call he got and letter he received.

Missing all those meetings and opportunities left him with barely no business and a dangerously low figure in the scrapyard bank account he shared with Adam.

His best friend had dealt with all the finance of the business.

He went to most of the meetings, took the boring phone calls and managed to create a steady income for the two of them.

Aaron on the other hand, did all the dirty work which he didn’t mind.

Pulling a car apart was a hobby and he loved going into work every morning.

Now, he hated it.

If he didn’t do something quick, he’ll be waving goodbye to his life and welcoming in bank loans and sympathy from his family. That was the last thing he wanted, and it made him sad when he thought about it.

Aaron was fighting so hard not to crawl back down that terrifying path.

“It’s not just scrap.” Aaron calmly repeated.

An awkward silence filled the room when the words left Aaron’s mouth.

Liv took her legs off the table, knocking half of the sheets that were spread out over the piece of furniture.

Her brother angrily shook his head and gathered up all the paperwork into a messy pile and stood up.

“I’m going to the pub, there’s some lunch in the fridge.” He muttered as he picked up his jacket and keys and escaped the flat within seconds.

\---

“Cain’s up at the farm. I haven’t seen him in a few days...” Chas’ words faded as she began to think about her brother and his lack of presence in the village.

Aaron tiredly sighed and picked up the pint his mum put in front of him.

Chas frowned, “Why- “

“Doesn’t matter.”

With that he walked over to table near the toilet doors and tried to think of a plan that would save his business.

He hadn’t even half of his pint drank or put pen to paper when the pub door opened, and heard cooing from Diane who was stood at the bar with Doug.

“Oh pet, you’re home! How is he? I was just about to go and visit you.”

Aaron’s ear perked up.

“He’s okay. Just got a nasty chest infection, haven’t you? Doctors gave him some antibiotics and his temperature dropped quickly. They were happy to send us home this morning.”

Aaron frowned and looked up to find Robert cradling a sleepy Sebastian in his arms and stroking his cheek.

He never knew Seb was sick.

Aaron suddenly shook his head.

_No. How on earth would you know?_ Aaron silently asked himself and looked back down at the list of numbers that suddenly were making no sense.

“I’m glad to hear that. Vic’s been worried sick.” Diane spoke, reaching over to stroke the back of Seb’s tiny hand.

“I know…Thanks for your help by the way. I wouldn’t know what I’d be like if you weren’t around.” Robert’s voice lowered as he spoke.

Something tugged at Aaron’s heart as he heard his friend spoke.

“Don’t mention it, love. It’s what grandmothers are for, eh?” Aaron softly smiled at her comment, glancing up to see Robert smiling back at her.

“Right, we better head off if you want to make it to that gardening show on time.”

Robert chuckled when Diane rolled her eyes at Doug and watched them walk off out the door together.

That’s when he eyes landed on him, the man who was able to take his breath away every time he caught sight of him.

He looked down at his sleeping son and walked slowly over to Aaron, ignoring Chas’ eyes which burning a hole into the back of his head.

“Hi.”

Aaron quickly looked up as if he had got a surprise and didn’t know Robert standing awkwardly above him.

“Hi.”

He breathed out his reply, suddenly lost for words and gave his ex-husband a small smile but his heart sank when he properly looked at him

His hair was dishevelled, his eyes were bloodshot and his voice was terribly hoarse.

This wasn’t the Robert he had seen earlier on in the week.

He frowned and stood up, pulling out a chair from the table beside him and placing it at his table, opposite where Aaron sat.

“Sit down, I’ll make you a coffee.” He whispered, placing his hand briefly on his bicep.

Robert didn’t have the chance to ask him if he was sure because Aaron had already walked off towards the back of the pub, whispering a harsh and annoyed “don’t” to his mother.

The older man sat down, looking down at his content son before he noticed the paperwork spread out all over the table beside him.

Regret suddenly washed over him.

He hadn’t had the chance to pop into the scrapyard for weeks after Rebecca fell extremely ill and needed Robert to take care of their son.

While Robert didn’t get much detail of what had happened to her as it was “none of his business”, he was only glad that to hear that she was recovering in hospital after a small operation and he was allowed more time with his son since Rebecca was strictly warned that she could not do much activity until her immune system improved and her wounds healed.

With the help of his sister and Diane, Robert was going great with the responsibility of taking care of his son full time.

It was only last week when a spanner was thrown into the works.

Seb’s average winter cold suddenly quickly turned into a severe chest infection.

Robert silently thanked God the night he choose to bring Seb to A&E at 4am.

It was that quick decision that prevented Seb from getting pneumonia.

“You made the right decision, Mr Sugden. Sebastian is very lucky.”

The doctor’s words were now imbedded into Robert’s memory.

He had improved greatly since he received IV antibiotics; his colour returned, his temperature reached a normal figure and his cough had eased greatly.

Seb only had the risk of asthma hanging over him.

Robert had to return to the specialist in a couple of weeks with his son to review his lungs.

After returning home that morning and feeding and bathing Seb, he decided to pop over to Diane in the pub to tell her he was home and then wait for Victoria to return from her visit to the prison, so they could spend the afternoon together.

“You still take two sugars?” Aaron’s voice had made Robert jump out of his thoughts.

He cleared his throat and sat up, nodding.

“Yeah, I do…” He smiled briefly and picked up the mug of coffee Aaron had placed down.

When the familiar taste of Chas’ favourite coffee hit his taste buds, he contently closed his eyes for a second.

It felt like home.

He turned to Aaron who sipped his pint.

“Thanks...you didn’t have to.”

Aaron shook his head, glancing from Robert to the sleeping baby in his arms.

“I wanted to...you looked like you needed one.” Aaron paused.

“I heard Seb wasn’t well…how is he?” He asked, ignoring the sudden shake in his voice.

Robert looked down at his son and stroked his cheek again.

“He’s much better now. Thank God he avoided a pneumonia.” Robert whispered.

Aaron’s heart sunk.

“I’m sorry, I-I didn’t know he was that sick.” He mumbled, kicking himself at his reply.

Robert shook his head, sipping his coffee.

“You weren’t to know. You had more important stuff to focus on.”

Robert thought of Alex first before he quickly nodded towards the paperwork in front of him.

“I’m sorry I didn’t call in to check if you needed any help.” Aaron shook his head back.

“No, no. It’s okay. I just need to get back into the swing of things.” He mumbled, tapping his pen on his notebook.

Robert glanced down at the sheets and his eyes caught sight of the familiar sheet that held the scrapyard’s weekly profits and losses and his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when he saw the staggering low figure under this month’s statistics.

Aaron noticed where he was looking, and he covered the sheet with his notebook, nervously.

“I should go- “

“Is business that bad?” Robert suddenly cut him off.

Aaron froze. He couldn’t lie to Robert. He never could and wasn’t going to start now.

“Business is nearly gone.”

Robert watched Aaron throw down his pen and lean back on his chair, unable to look at him.

He frowned and looked at Aaron with confusion.

“What do you do you mean, ‘nearly gone’?” He asked, ignoring Chas who walked slowly past them.

Aaron took a deep breath in and let it out when Chas went back behind the bar.

“The Scrapyard is nearly gone, Robert. There has been very little business. There have been no new deals. There have been no profits and I have very little income, increasing bills and my teenage sister to look after.”

Aaron let out a shaky breath when he finished his confession, blinking his eyes quickly to push back the forming tears.

Robert was in shock. How did he not know Aaron was in this mess?

He shook his head.

_No. How on earth would you know?_ Robert asked himself and glanced from Aaron to his paperwork.

“Have you any clients interested now?” He suddenly asked.

Aaron furrowed his eyebrows. He picked up the list of names that had either left him a voicemail and or emailed him about looking for a meeting to discuss a deal.

He hadn’t had the courage or confidence to contact them back and feed them stupid excuses that they would just laugh at.

“These contacted me in the past few weeks but- “

Robert leaned over to scan the list, a few names looking familiar.

“Give me your phone.” Robert demanded, balancing Seb against his chest in one arm as he outstretched the other to Aaron.

Aaron frowned, lost for words so he just passed his unlocked phone to Robert.

“What- “

Aaron couldn’t finish his questions as he was too intrigued in what his ex-husband was doing.

After dialling out a number into Aaron’s phone, he placed it to his ear and re-adjusted his sleeping son in his arm.

That’s when Aaron finally allowed himself to look down at the baby.

He had been so caught up in taking his adorable features; his fair strands of hair, chubby little cheeks, tiny hands and how Robert was able to comfortably balance him in one arm that hadn’t heard Robert explain to one of the scrapyard’s now new clients why Aaron hadn’t called back and then proceed to make a deal with him.

Robert smiled, a wave of excitement running through his veins when he thanked the man on the other end of the phone.

He could never lose his touch.

He turned to Aaron who stared at him.

“You have a deal tomorrow at 3....”

Aaron didn’t focus on what Robert was saying as he was too busy trying to work out what on earth just happened.

Robert finished writing down the deal details and began to type out a new number in Aaron’s phone when a hand fell onto his.

“What are you- “

Aaron was still lost for words.

Robert bit his lip, looking at his confused ex-husband.

“I want to help, Aaron. I know...Adam dealt with all this.” Robert whispered.

Aaron’s heart sunk at the thought of Adam all alone in his prison cell, just like he was not so long ago.

“Let me help, yeah?” Robert’s words brought relief to Aaron and he nodded, hoping he didn’t look desperate.

“I’d like that.”

“That’s what friends are for.” Robert grinned when he saw a smile grow on Aaron’s lips.

That’s more like it, he thought, he couldn’t leave Aaron without seeing a smile on his lips and with that he went back to dialling another number. 

\---

“Yes, I know, and he sends his apologises- “ Robert shook his head in great frustration and breathed in slowly to calm his bubbling anger.

Aaron glanced up at him and chuckled softly when Robert mouthed a frustrated “ _oh my god_ ” to him and went back to speaking in his nice, business like tone.

An hour had past and Robert, with the help of Aaron’s regular fresh mugs of coffee, reached the bottom of list of potential clients and had made a deal with everyone until now.

This man was only being difficult because Aaron didn’t call him back “in time” but Aaron’s offer was too good to let go and he wouldn’t let Robert hang up on him.

Robert wasn’t going to let this deal go without a fight either as this client had money. A lot of it.

“Sir, I understand what you are saying but- “

Robert tightly shut his eyes, his frustration making his voice increase in volume which resulted in his son stirring in his arms.

He re-adjusted Seb in his arms after awkwardly placing the phone between his ear and shoulder.

“Just hear me out, please- “

Aaron watched on, his own awkwardness arising.

He couldn’t just sit there, and watch Robert argue with a client and look after his sick son at the same time.

He sighed and stood up, taking the soft cloth out of the bag Robert was reaching in for and held out his arms to take Seb off him.

Robert froze, not listening to what the client was yelling into his ear.

“Are you sure?”

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust him, he was just in shock Aaron wanted to interact with Seb.

Aaron quickly nodded with a smile and lowered his crossed arms to allow Robert place Seb into them.

He smiled down at the grizzly child and took the cloth to clean his wet chin and mouth as he sat back down.

He daren’t look up to see the reaction of the villagers, especially his mother.

“No, you listen to me, Mr. Brown- “

Aaron took his focus off Robert’s angry confrontation with the man and put it all onto the baby in his arms.

Seb was waking up now and started to make what were the cutest noises Aaron had ever heard in his entire life.

Then his eyes fully opened to reveal those dark eyes which were the exact same as the ones he had often woken up to most mornings at the start of the year.

“You’ve definitely got his eyes…” Aaron whispered, smiling softly and allowed Seb to wrap his tiny fingers around his index finger.

“God help anyone who meets you in future…” He chuckled, clearing remembering the moment he met Robert’s eyes on that empty road to Hotten like it was only yesterday.

He knew he could never forget a pair of eyes like those.

Aaron was too busy cooing over Sebastian and Robert was too busy conversing with this client that the two of them never noticed Alex and Liv walking into the pub.

“What the hell?” Liv meant to yell but it only came out in a whisper.

“It seems he already has company….” Alex’s tone faded when he saw Aaron sit up Seb and rub his back lightly to ease his coughing.

Robert may have been arguing with this client non-stop for the past 5 minutes, but he never took his eyes off Aaron and his son.

He was a pure natural and it ached Robert’s heart to see what him and Aaron missed out on.

“Yeah, and happy new year to you too.”

Robert’s sarcasm made Aaron look up and he giggled when Robert angrily crossed out Mr. Brown’s name on the list.

“Would you look at that Seb, Daddy just lost me a client, for the first time.”

Aaron teased, making Robert’s face form an ‘O, you didn’t just say that’ look.

Aaron laughed and they both looked at Seb who smiled and leaned his head against Aaron’s chest, leaving out another cute sound.

“Nice to know who’s side you’re on, Seb.” Robert joked, leaning over the table to stroke his flushed cheek.

Aaron laughed and looked at Robert.

“He’s adorable, Rob…” He murmured, looking back down at Seb.

“You, my friend, are so lucky to have him as your Daddy…” He grinned, holding Seb’s hand.

Robert smiled, unable to respond to Aaron’s comments as it still was early days for him.

He cleared his throat and looked back at the paperwork.

“Anyway, you have enough deals there to bring that figure back up in no time. There’s the list of clients and the times they want to meet and Aaron…” Aaron met his eyes.

“If you need any more help, you know where I am, okay?” Robert spoke as he tidied up the paperwork into a neat pile for Aaron.

Aaron smiled, still in shock over Robert’s generosity.

“Thank you, Robert. I don’t know what I would have done if it weren’t for you.” He gratefully said just as Seb started to cry.

“Oh, I think someone’s hungry….” They both laughed.

Aaron stood up with Seb and handed him back into Robert’s arms. He picked up the boy’s bag and placed it on his father’s shoulder.

It was only then he caught sight of Chas, Alex and Liv staring at him from the bar.

“Thanks, mate.” Robert turned to him and saw him awkwardly standing there looking at Alex and his family.

Robert avoided Alex’s eyes and glanced at Aaron.

“You know where I am.” He murmured before he exited the pub quickly, Seb’s cries fading away as they walked out into the cold day and away from the pub.

It took every ounce of strength and will power in Aaron to stop him from running after Robert and avoid what he was about to face.

Maybe in another lifetime.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! x


End file.
